When Will You Look My Way?
by Anica14x14
Summary: Yahiko is now a strapping young man of seventeen and Tsubame is a beautiful lady of sixteen. Many has changed but some things remain the same...especially feelings. YaTsu


A/N Hi everyone! It's my first time writing a Rurouni Kenshin fic so please be nice. () I just love the Yahiko and Tsubame pairing and wanted to try it out. I hope that this'll turn out alright!

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RUROUNI KENSHIN!**

**When Will You Look My Way?**

**By: Anica14x14**

Tokyo: a bustling province of Japan where many events have taken place…and a home to its citizens' protectors. Not much has happened since after that fight with Shishio. Sure there were occasions that Kenshin and the others would run into bad guys in town trying to steal or cause a riot and such, but besides that, things around Tokyo have been peaceful.

Kenshin was happily married to Kaoru, with the expectancy of a child to be born in two week's time. Sanosuke was still single as so was Megumi, although everyone else thought that something was going on, while Misao and Aoshi have been themselves: Misao still worshiping her hero Aoshi, who was still treating her like a child. Then there was Yahiko. Already at the age of seventeen, he has changed from the cocky kid from the Kamiya dojo, to a young man who now taught in the said dojo in Kaoru's place, knowing about her condition. Things would seem just as it was before. But if one would take time to take a closer look, things weren't the same anymore, especially the feelings of a certain raven haired teenager.

Yahiko was doing drills in the dojo in front of the students as they sat and watched him. They all stared in awe at his perfect form with dreams of becoming as good as him one day. Brown eyes were narrowed in concentration as sweat dripped from his slightly matted hair. He swung his boken forward, raising it again and swinging it to another angle and side, slight gusts of wind coming from the pressure. His tanned, sweat-slicked form was slightly glistening as the rays of morning sun seeped through the paper-panel windows and little cracks in the walls. Finishing the drill with one final blow, he stood in that stance, probably to add a nice effect to his "performance".

"Wow! Yahiko sensei is really good!"

"Nah! He's more than good. He's amazing!"

"I wanna be as cool as him when I'm through training!"

"Yeah!"

"Me too!"

Yep. Though he _has_ changed, he's still the obnoxious and cocky Yahiko.

"Hey Yahiko-chan! You'd better concentrate on teaching the kids rather than showing off, alright?" came a familiar voice from behind him. His ears turned pink at the sound of the suffix "chan" to his name. Turning on his heel, he spun around to face Kaoru with a light blush across his cheeks. "Don't call me that!" he shouted, clenching his boken a little tighter.

"Oh I see. I guess you only want Tsubame-chan to call you that then?" she said with a grin on her face. She enjoyed teasing Yahiko then and she still does now, though he is already seventeen. She thought he looked cute blushing like that and trying to be a man. She continued laughing to herself until she gave a gasp of pain. Yahiko dropped his boken and rushed to her side. He took her arm and put it around his neck, leading her to her room. "That's what you get for calling me 'chan'. You know, you shouldn't even be up. What if Kenshin saw you up and about? He'd give you a scolding," he lectured. "I couldn't help it Yahiko. I heard the children and the sound of clashing bamboo swords in the dojo. I miss teaching." He laid her on her futon and sat by her side. "Still, the baby's gonna come out in two week's time, right? You should think of your present duty and not act as if you're still as young as you used to be. Sheesh…" he looked away, not letting Kaoru see him blush. Since when did he sound that mature? Kaoru just smiled and chuckled, rubbing her stomach. "Alright Uncle Yahiko," she said sweetly. _"Gah there she goes with the name calling again!" _

He looked back at her saying, "Hey, no one's gonna call me that except that kid of yours. Now you're making me sound old. The baby's not even out yet!" Kaoru laughed as Yahiko stood up and made for the door. "Anyway," he said. "I left your students in the dojo. I'll have to go back now." Kaoru stopped laughing by now. She sighed and replied, "Alright. Teach them well." Yahiko looked over his shoulder and gave her a 'thumbs up'. He opened the door and crossed the threshold. But before leaving, he told Kaoru one thing: "Just take care of yourself, alright?" With that, he shut the door. Kaoru smiled. _"He really is growing up."_

He walked up to the stairs of the Kamiya dojo and heard laughter. He saw the children crowding around a girl with a bag filled with sweet dumplings. His heart skipped a beat.

_"Some things just don't change…"_

There amidst the posse of kids was Tsubame, smiling at them and ruffling their hair. "Where's your teacher," she asked timidly. One of the children, who took notice to the figure by the doorway replied, "There he is, Tsubame-onee-chan!" She turned her head to the direction to where the kid was pointing and saw Yahiko. She stood straight and bowed in his direction. "Good morning Yahiko-ch−" she stopped herself by clasping a hand to her mouth. Yahiko just shook his head and walked towards them. The children backed away. It seemed that they also knew about the two thanks to Kaoru's gossiping. But Yahiko didn't seem to notice their knowing faces. He stepped in front of Tsubame and greeted, "Good mornin'."

Yahiko was now taller than Tsubame, not like before when they were of the same height. The top of her head would reach up to his shoulder. But it wasn't just their height that changed but their build. Yahiko, from the skinny boy he was now well built. He wasn't that muscular, but just right. It didn't show as much as Sanosuke, but it was evidence of his strength. And Tsubame changed from the scrawny girl to a lithe figure of a sixteen year old lady.

She looked up at him only to cast her eyes down. Yahiko couldn't help but smile. _"She's still shy," _he thought. "So what brings you here," the raven-haired boy asked. "Oh I wanted to pay Kaoru-san a visit and drop off some treats for you and the children." The kids went around her again and hugged her. "Thank you onee-chan!"

"You wouldn't mind if you guys had a break would you? It looks like you've been working very hard!" The students nodded in approval. Yahiko shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Alright, let's have a break. Besides, I do feel kinda hungry." There was a loud cheer and they sat down together in a circle. Some pulled Tsubame to sit in between them and the rest insisted that Yahiko would sit with them opposite Tsubame. They all ate and the children were content. "Wow! Delicious," one exclaimed, taking a hearty bite out of the dumpling. "These are great," Yahiko said with childish enthusiasm. Tsubame smiled and thanked them for the praise. "Tae-san taught me how to make those the other day. That was the first batch that I made on my own."

"Waah! You're a great cook onee-chan!" They ate till the last dumpling was gone and drank tea. The children were now energized and ready to continue their training. Tsubame excused herself to go to Kaoru's room and stayed there for the remainder of the day.

"Bye Yahiko-sensei," the children bid as they left the dojo. It was already late in the afternoon and Yahiko was bushed. _"Boy, I think those sweet dumplings were a little too sweet. The kids were on fire today!" _He swept the floor a bit to get rid of the other crumbs left and went to take a bath. The minutes passed as he stayed submerged in the warm water, thinking about everything that was going around him. _"It's like a routine. Every weekday I train those kids. And every now and then, Tsubame would show up. But somehow, I feel like everyone's going through a change except me." _A frown crept on his lips. _"I don't think anything about me has changed."_ He submerged his head in the water before coming out and drying himself off. Putting on a fresh yukata, he entered Kaoru's room to find Kenshin, Sanosuke, Megumi, Kaoru, Aoshi, Misao, Tsubame and even Saito inside.

"Huh? What's goin' on?"

"I won a bet against Saito here kiddo," Sano exclaimed triumphantly, landing a heavy hand on the teen's shoulder. "What! Saito _lost_!" He looked at Saito who had a stress vain on his temple. "There is no further need to rub it in my face, Sanosuke," he said scornfully. "So why is everybody in here, huh?" He looked at them puzzled. Misao jumped him saying, "This is going to be so much fun! We're all going to spend a week at Saito's summer house in Kyoto!"

A/N How was it? Please let me know. If you've any suggestions, please do share them. ()


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